~ real food, balanced living ~

Crispy Roasted Chili Lime Chickpeas

I’ve been dying for an excuse to make these amazing roasted chickpeas that I’ve been savouring vicariously over the blogosphere.

So when the sun gave way to clouds last week and the temperature started to dip, I decided to spark up the oven and get some chili lime action going on.

I’m also conscious – sort of – of the fact that our boys will be heading back to school in a couple of weeks (oh no, say it ain’t so!) and I’m always on the lookout for new and delicious snacks to send them off with – or to have at home when they return from school famished.

These roasted chickpeas are sooo delicious, you’ll forget how good they are for you.

Chickpeas are a rich source of fibre, low glycemic carbohydrates, folate and vegetable protein – they also contain good amounts of manganese, phosphorus and iron. In fact, a half cup serving of cooked chickpeas contains 6.2 grams of fibre, 7 grams of high-quality plant protein and 35% of the RDA for folate – wrapped up in a mere 134 calories.

If you follow my blog you know that I prize time efficiency.I focus on whole ingredients and try to keep the fuss to a minimum. Beans are one thing however, that I do feel are worth the preparation time.The taste is incomparable and so is the texture – you can control how long you cook the bean which means that you can create al dente results every time rather than the mushy canned variety.I am also conscious of BPA linings in canned goods and try to minimize our exposure as much as possible.

I tend to prepare the beans in the morning while I’m busy doing other things in the kitchen. That way, I’m not ‘waiting’ on them – they’re doing their thing in the background while I continue to buzz around doing my thing. Once cooked, I just pop them in the fridge and pull them out again when needed.

Once cooled and drained, place chickpeas in a large bowl. Add olive oil, chili powder, lime juice, lime zest and sea salt over chickpeas and then toss contents to thoroughly coat chickpeas with mixture.

Invert chickpeas onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Spread chickpeas out on baking sheet.

Cook in the oven for about 35 minutes – shaking the tray every 10 minutes or so – until chickpeas are crispy (they will actually crisp up and have a different texture than the meatier ones you might be accustomed to).

If you prefer the meaty texture to the airier crispy texture, simply cook them for less time – maybe 20 minutes or so.

Remove chickpeas from oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes.

Once cooled, place roasted chickpeas in a bowl or serving dish of choice and enjoy ~

Beautiful, healthy and delicious! What else could one ask in a snack? Oh, and they are spicy too and low-calorie! Definitely something for me. I love the way you have put the lime beside the plate. I might steal the idea from you ;-)

Ah … so that’s what the 2 cans of chickpeas sitting on my pantry shelf are for. I’ve also been seeing a lot of these yummy snacks around and one of them suggested using canned chickpeas, which of course would save me a ton of time. I’d bought those cans and totally forgot about them … til now. Thanks for the reminder!

Kelly, I have been seeing these roasted chick peas all over as well and still haven’t made them and I really want to. I have some garbanzos just sitting in a jar waiting to be put to some good use. I’ll let you know how mine turn out, thanks for the reminder on these healthy snacks.

I love chili and lime together and chick peas are one of my favourite legumes. I tried doing the dry method a while ago, but I suspect that my chick peas were just too old and never really reconstituted. I think I will try it again, this one just look too tasty to pass up on.

I might just have to give roasted chickpeas another try because I love this recipe! Anything with chili gets my vote. I’ve made roasted chickpea twice now and both times, they came out mealy. Neither of us like them. Looking at your instructions, maybe I just didn’t cook them long enough. Third time’s charm? :)

Oh darn, that’s too bad. Around the 30 minute mark I definitely noticed the texture changing – the chickpeas seemed to transition from fleshy to crispy – I quite like the natural, fleshy taste of chickpea so if you like that texture, I’d recommend less than 30 minutes at 400 F. After 30 minutes you have to really watch that they do go from crispy to rock hard as Charles cautions. I hope it works if you give them another try! ;-).

Thank you for reminding me that I have a bag of chickpeas sitting in the pantry that I was going to roast some weeks ago. I think this was meant to be…They are one of Mr. N’s favorite snacks and I love the chili lime combo! Yummers. :) I should surprise him with these in his lunchbox next week. Eek! I have to start packing lunches again. ;)

I LOVE roasted chickpeas and this looks awesome, there are so many recipes out there, but this might be my favourite. The daughter and I literally eat them right off the baking tray, although some might make it to a bowl, but rarely.